Externships

The UCDC Law Program is a uniquely collaborative, full-semester externship program in Washington, D.C. The program combines a weekly seminar-style course on Law and Lawyering in the Nation’s Capital, with a full-time field placement to offer law students an unparalleled opportunity to learn how federal statutes, regulations, and policies are made, changed, and understood in the nation’s capital. During four months’ total immersion in the theory and practice of Washington lawyering, students will have contact with all three branches of the federal government, independent regulatory agencies, and advocacy nonprofits.

The Program includes law students from Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, and UC Irvine, and typically enrolls between 15 and 35 students. The Program is housed at the University of California Washington Center, a UC facility located at 1608 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., just minutes from the White House and most government departments and agencies.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Meets with UCLA Law Students

October 2014 - UCLA School of Law students participating in the UCDC Law Program, an externship program in Washington, D.C., had the unique opportunity to meet with and ask questions of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited the University of California Washington Center in October, where she spoke to a group of undergraduate and law school students from various University of California campuses. The discussion was moderated by Jess Bravin, Supreme
Court correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. Following the large
group discussion, Justice Ginsburg participated in a special Q&A discussion
with students from the University of California law schools.

Justice Ginsburg discussed a variety of topics during the intimate group session. She spoke
about why she chose to go to law school and the difficulties she faced as a
female finding a job after graduation. Referring to herself as an “ardent
feminist,” Justice Ginsburg told the story of how she obtained her first job as
a law clerk with the help of a law professor who recommended her to a judge.
The judge was hesitant to hire a female, but the law professor threatened not
to recommend other students if he did not give her a shot. Taking a pocket Constitution
out of her purse, Justice Ginsburg also walked the students through an exercise
demonstrating why she believes in the theory of a living Constitution.

Justice Ginsburg is the fourth Supreme Court Justice to visit with UCDC law students.